Best Big Theaters In Los Angeles

Los Angeles is home to some of the best theaters anywhere in the world. Featuring some of the best performances, citizens of this great city have the added bonus of sitting in some of the most awe-inspiring theaters. We've found the top 5.

Ahmanson Theater
135 N. Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 628-2772
www.centertheatregroup.org

For nearly 40 years the Ahmanson Theatre has presented a wide variety of dramas, musicals, comedies and classic revivals. The Ahmanson continues to present Broadway hits such as the exclusive Los Angeles engagements of many Tony Award-winning productions. For excellence in all phases of production, the Ahmanson has been honored with over 50 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards. A unique, state-of-the-art 1995 reconfiguration provides the Ahmanson with variable seating capacity from 1,600 - 2,000, allowing the theatre to accommodate a greater variety of plays, from the intimate to the spectacular. It currently enjoys the largest theatrical subscription base on the West Coast in a year-round season from early fall through late summer.

Geffen Playhouse
10886 Le Conte Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90024
(310) 208-5454
www.geffenplayhouse.com

The Geffen Playhouse has been a hub of the Los Angeles theater scene since opening its doors in 1995. Noted for its intimacy and celebrated for its eclectic mix of classic and contemporary plays, provocative new works and musicals, the Geffen Playhouse continues to present a body of work that has garnered national recognition. The Geffen Playhouse has been a hub of the Los Angeles theater scene since opening its doors in 1995. Noted for its intimacy and celebrated for its eclectic mix of classic and contemporary plays, provocative new works and musicals, the Geffen Playhouse continues to present a body of work that has garnered national recognition.

Mark Taper Forum Theater
135 N. Grand Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 628-2772
www.centertheatregroup.org

Since it opened in 1967 the Mark Taper Forum has been honored for its development of new plays and voices for the theatre  and for its continuing commitment to serve the broadest possible audience. It has received virtually every theatrical award including the 1977 special Tony Award for theatrical excellence. Recent Taper productions include August Wilson's King Hedley II, Gem of the Ocean and Radio Golf, the revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Flower Drum Song with a new book by David Henry Hwang, David Mamet's Romance, a revival of Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard with Annette Bening, David Hare's Stuff Happens and Culture Clash's Chavez Ravine and Water & Power. The Taper has a five to six play season which runs from January through December.

Orpheum Theater
842 South Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90014
(877) 677-4386
www.laorpheum.com

Since its February 15, 1926 opening, the Orpheum has played host to some of the most venerable names in show business – from burlesque queen Sally Rand, a young Judy Garland (as Francis Gumm) and comedian Jack Benny, to jazz greats like Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington. Today, the Orpheum continues to build on its entertainment industry memories and stands ready once again to welcome live performance and many other special events to its legendary stage.

Pantages Theater
6233 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(213) 468-1770
www.hollywoodpantages.como

The Pantages has become one of the greatest landmarks of Hollywood, signifying both the glorious past and adventuresome future of the world's entertainment capital.  It has a history as grand and diverse as the stage and screen fare which audiences have flocked to enjoy there for half a century. These days it's one of Los Angeles' leading homes of legitimate theatre (the five highest-grossing weeks in L.A.'s theatrical history were all shows at the Pantages) and a favorite "location" for tv shows, movies and music videos. In the past, it has been a movie house, with live vaudeville acts between features as well as the site of many gala premieres and "spectaculars." For ten years the Pantages Theatre was the home of the glittering Academy Awards Presentations.